One purpose of Geoffrey Till's book is to explain why navies
matter. Its second purpose is to bring such thinking up to date, to say
how navies matter, or are likely to matter, in the twenty-first century.

Till is concerned with definitions and theory. The way one
understands navies and naval operations is through definition and
theory. At the highest level this leads to or is exploited by strategic
thinking. Closer to ground (or water) it is tactical. Till is also
concerned with history. It is in past battles and wars that the worth of
particular strategies and tactics have been tested and possibly
disproved. And he is concerned with the present day and the myriad
changes in how the sea is used and how it may be used in the future.

For many states this book has limited relevance. Only a few states
are naval powers. Not very many states have long coastlines. Quite a few
states rely on maritime trade to supply the necessities of life or to
reach markets for their products. Till's book has more relevance
for naval powers, fishing states, and trading states, than for the weak,
the poor, or the landlocked.

Early in the book, Till states that the sea has traditionally had
four uses. The sea is a resource--a source of natural goods such as
fish, oil, and gas. It is a means of transportation. It is usually
easier or cheaper to move heavy or bulky things by water between two
points than by land or air. It is a means of exchanging information. And
it is a means of dominion.

Toward the end of the book, Till points to a lesson learned in the
last century: The sea is also an environment. Here he means the naval
environment understood broadly. This includes issues of the natural
environment such as water pollution, but it also includes concern for
naval hazards such as pirates, kidnapping at sea, tsunamis, and
congested naval traffic. This is a fifth way the sea matters.

At most, few countries are capable of being great naval powers.
Most countries are relegated to lesser power status. A great naval power
may seek to achieve command of the sea. It seems unlikely that any power
can command all the oceans. Command of the sea will be regional and
relative. A state that commands any substantial portion of the sea can
control the exploitation of sea resources. Its people and businesses can
exploit those resources; it can determine who else it will allow to
exploit those resources. It can manage or restrict transport on the sea
or the collection or exchange of information about or on the sea. It
also can use its command of the sea to pursue military objectives. It
may use the sea to attack its rivals or to defend its allies. It can use
its command of the sea to allow allied navies to pass and to block or
sink hostile navies. It can blockade hostile ports while assuring that
goods reach friendly ports.

Lesser powers may seek to prevent a great power from achieving
command of the sea. Strategies useful for such powers, to undermine
great-power command of the sea, depend on the strategy used by the great
power. If the great power seeks to pursue and sink hostile warships, the
rival will want to keep these in safe waters much of the time. If the
great power seeks to escort its merchant convoys or blockade hostile
ports, the rival will adopt different strategies.

Much of the book is devoted to the composition and use of naval
forces. Till favors the idea that there is a level of theory and
practice between the strategic and the tactical--the operational.
Strategy aims to win wars, operational thinking aims to plan successful
campaigns, tactical thinking aims to win battles. Till focuses on
strategy and campaigns and says little about tactics.

Too, he recognizes the need for joint operations. Naval forces may
need to operate in conjunction with land and air forces. Often the
forces of one state operate jointly with those of other states. When
properly combined and led this can multiply effectiveness. Till
recognizes but minimizes the difficulties in such cooperation whether it
is inter-branch or interstate cooperation.

As should be clear, Till aims to accomplish much in this book. Over
the years he has developed the knowledge of history, the understanding
of different navies, and the insight into strategy and campaign, to
succeed in this effort. This book has a grand design and succeeds in
conveying the variety of human uses of the sea and how navies are needed
and shaped to achieve national purposes.

The central focus of the book is on the military use of the sea
(i.e., force structure, strategy). Discussion of other matters is
limited. One should not look to this book to understand how oceans are
being exploited, current or future methods or volume of ocean-going
transport, or the production or distribution of information about or by
the sea. Till has a sensible grasp of such topics but does not explore
them.

Till's handling of the future is thoughtful but lacks
imagination. He projects present trends into the future. This is safe
but prosaic. Because he does not explore non-naval topics, he is unable
to make original forecasts. He is much better on the usefulness of
missiles or amphibious forces than on the modern information economy.

To this reader, there is a message implicit in the later chapters
of the book, especially the chapter about the need for good order at
sea--i.e., a good naval environment. Till appears to call for interstate
cooperation in achieving and maintaining such good order. States that
lack the capacity to prevent piracy need help. Disputes over islands or
exploitation of the sea need to be resolved. Tsunamis and changes in the
sea floor need to be detected and reported.

Such interstate cooperation is also required for joint operations
aimed at bringing order to failed states, supporting peacekeeping
operations, or achieving regime change. Here, too, Till limits his
remarks. Matters of multilateralism and the diplomacy required to make
this possible are beyond the scope of this book.

This is not a book that will interest everyone. It focuses on naval
issues and does so in an abstract, theoretical way. The analysis is well
supported by historical examples. For those engaged by such topics, this
book merits study because it is comprehensive and well informed.